The Man with Silver Hair
The Friend & Enemy of Getsueikirite Raian A sonicboom ripped through the air of the Living World as the two fighters of colossal powers clashed in mid-air. Neither man's face revealed signs of caving. In terms of strength, they were evenly matched. Swish... The two men parted, darting only feet apart before charging again, causing yet another sonicboom as the steel forged by their souls again slammed together. Seireitou's silver hair glimmered in the moonlight, blowing ferociously with the concussion of their battle. Akujin's, in contrast, was black as the night itself. Again they parted, landing in the air only ten or so feet away from the other. "The years have done you well, Kawahiru Seireitou." Akujin stated. "You're far stronger than when we first fought." "I don't understand..." Seireitou thought, ignoring Akujin's praise. "Right now, I don't sense a strong spiritual pressure at all. But when he attacks, its like he dips into a well of spiritual power that never ends. It feels like a black hole, sucking in all that get close enough to its overbearing presence." Flash! Another sonicboom. Then another, and then another. The two were now locking in a far more intense sword battle. Akujin swung low, but Seireitou was quick on his feet and leaped over the blow, swinging and overhead blow down at Akujin's exposed skull. Flash! The enemy of Seireitou vanished, appearing a short distance away. Akujin sucked in a large amount of reishi, expelling blue flames of condensed reishi from his mouth in the shape of dragon's heads. With one powerful swing of his Zanpakutō, Seireitou created a shockwave which reduced the flames to nothingness. "Heiliges Feuer; a Quincy technique? Seems you've learned some new tricks yourself, Akujin." Seireitou finally retorted. "You should know by now that your power is nowhere close to my own. Why do you insist on only using your base state?" Akujin questioned. "I don't give in to peer pressure." Seireitou joked dryly. "Besides.... I could ask you the same question." Seireitou flicked his sword to the right, causing it to glow brightly and turn golden in color. Hanullim had transformed into its Shikai state. Without words, Seireitou drew back his blade and unleashed a Shikon Hisakiten upon Akujin, who responded by causing his sword to vanish and then folding his arms across his chest. The ribcage from of Akujin's Shikai appeared the instant the blast was supposed to hit Akujin, taking the damage for him. "Unsightly." Akujin spat. "Really? Than let's try this." Seireitou murmured, as though he wasn't surprised at all. "Kirisaki, Hanullim!" Flash! Seireitou vanished, yet Akujin remained unphased; keeping his hand crossed firmly over his chest, his eyes straight ahead. In that instant, Seireitou reappeared right in front of Akujin, slamming his sword into the ribcage-like formation caused by the Shikai of Shinzoku. Corrosive energy, shaped as green sparks, then began to overcome Akujin's Shikai. "Your defense is strong, but not unbreakable. Hanullim will continue to break down your Shikai until it no longer exists." Seireitou explained, cold eyes fixated on Akujin's unmoved face. Several moments passed, during which time, the corrosive energy expanded to encompass the entire ribcage. Seireitou's face contorted with confusion as a minute passed and nothing had occurred. Akujin's eyes then slowly moved to the top left corner of their sockets, staring directly up at Seireitou, even though the rest of him didn't move. "Corrosion is no weapon to use against the Ribcage of God." Akujin replied coldly, "This ribcage is unaffected by any outside effect. Even your 'control of interactions' cannot dictate that." Seireitou looked on shocked. His corrosion ability had never been outright negated before. What unnerved him the most is that, despite knowing his reputation and power, Akujin was unmoved by the fact that he was fighting him. There was no caution in his movements, no fear in his eyes. His reiatsu was perfectly stable. Few could face the 'Shiroyasha' and say that. Seireitou leaped back and regained his stance. Finally, Akujin turned to look at Seireitou in his new position. "Let's begin." the villain said, and charged... Devastation The differences in the two mens' powers was now readily apparent. With his Shikai activated, Akujin wasn't being affected by any of Seireitou's physical or spiritual attacks, forcing the silver-haired Yōnko completely on the defense. Akujin, on the other hand, ramped up his assault. Using a cross which now dangled by a thin chain from his right wrist, the evil mastermind gathered reishi and formed it into a gunbai. "That's a Quincy Spirit Weapon!" Seireitou exclaimed. More reishi gathered at the tip of Akujin's gunbai, unleashing a torrent of Heilig Pfeil on Seireitou, who slashed violently at them, batting each one away or slashing them in two. Gathering reishi once again, this time much more than before, Akujin prepared to continue his assault. "Licht Regenguss!" Akujin declared, unleashing a downpour of spiritual arrows on Seireitou. "Kirisaki, Hanullim!!" Seireitou cried in retribution, unleashing green sparks of energy from his Zanpakutō, which quickly overwhelmed and destroyed the massive torrent of arrows. At this point, a stalemate occurred, with neither combatant willing to test the other. Seireitou, though, was clearly exhausted from the exchange and didn't attempt to hide it. He visibly wheezed and winced in pain at the extent of his injuries. He didn't like to admit it, but, just as in their first confrontation eighteen years prior, he was still completely outclassed by Akujin. "How could nothing have changed...?! There's no way his abilities could've increased this much!" Seireitou thought to himself. "Incredible, isn't it?" Akujin interjected, "This power I've gained is perfection incarnate. Nothing can stand before me. You have most certainly improved, Seireitou. Had you fought me the way I was when we first fought eighteen years ago, you would've surely ended this by now. But things have changed, haven't they?" "Don't get cocky! You know it will take more than that to defeat me." Seireitou declared confidently. Akujin cracked a sly grin, "Such brash confidence. Fine then, I will allow you a freebie. Take your shot, it'll be the last you get." he replied. Seireitou returned Akujin's grin, "That will be your last mistake. Normally, this attack would be impractical in a one-on-one fight, however, you've presented me with an opportunity I cannot refuse." Akujin's response was merely a snicker as he beheld Seireitou beginning his charge. Kawahiru Seireitou: Master of Kidō Sparks flew from Seireitou's outstretched hands. These sparks grew larger, slamming into the forest below and digging trenches into the ground, as well as knocking over trees. Akujin stared in indifference, arms folded tightly against his chest. As Seireitou charged his reiryoku, blue, yellow, and red energy began to form into a sphere. "Come Akujin! Let's test the perfect power you claim to have." Seireitou bellowed. "Ōka Shakkōtsū!" Seireitou fired the ball of reiryoku at full force. Akujin's eyes remained the same until only seconds before impact. Knowing the attacks true force at last, he widened his eyes at the last second before being slammed at full force. The impact didn't hurt Akujin's physical body, but it threw his Shikai-enshrouded self into the forest below, causing a massive explosion of dirt and dust. "Moeruchūshin!" Seireitou continued, snapping his fingers to ignite his unique Kidō. An explosion of white flames took place at the site of Akujin's landing, quickly spreading to the surrounding trees. Seireitou floated overhead, staring down at where Akujin had fallen and his attack had taken root. Suddenly, the flames turned blue and erupted in a pillar, which shot upward and pierced the clouds, drawing a shocked expression from Seireitou. Akujin rose from within the pillar, his arms still folded tightly against his chest. "Truly impressive, Kawahiru. Your Kidō far outshines my own. You've even come up with a few personal ones haven't you? You are truly an interesting being." Akujin stated, a mocking tone to his voice. Seireitou gritted his teeth, "Mark my words, Akujin, your evil stops here! Bankai!!!" The Four Special Powers Seireitou's appearance began to change rapidly and powerful reiryoku swirled around him as he unleashed his Bankai. Akujin smirked and quickly pulled a medallion from his waist pockets, outstretching his hands towards Seireitou. The energy around Seireitou began to disperse, as he was now clearly in Bankai mode. He noticed the medallion and, upon recognition of the device, narrowed his eyes. "Melt! Sea become clouds. Clouds become rain. Rain become mist. All things that have shape, vanish! At the end of our joy we throw the cup to the ground!" Akujin declared. Black energy erupted from the medallion, forming a large seal before firing rays of light towards Seireitou. Upon contact with the beams of light, Seireitou's Bankai shihakushō began to deteriorate and vanish, leaving his skin exposed. His eyes widened with shock and he quickly leaped into a fighting pose, swiping at the rays of light as if to deflect them. His plan worked. With a simple swing of Shinwaryeok Hanullim, Seireitou shattered the beams of light, causing the energy from the medallion to disperse. This caused Akujin's own eyes to widen in shock. "It's as I thought." Akujin muttered. "What was that?!" Seireitou stammered, sweat dripping from his brow. Akujin grinned, "You are truly amazing. Since I have all the data I need, I will tell you. The Impero Nascosto considers four hostiles 'Special War Powers'. You may have heard the term before. We call them the Four War Powers. As you already might have guessed, they are the former members of the Yonkō; Raian Getsueikirite, Hikaru Kurosaki, Echo, and you - Seireitou Kawahiru." he explained, "Among all our enemies, you four are the most dangerous to our goals. This is due, in part, to your larger than average battle powers. Each of you are on par, or above the level, of Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto of the Gotei 13. But that isn't the only thing that is unnerving about you." Seireitou listened intently. Despite his plan failing, Akujin still seemed completely calm. This unnerved Seireitou greatly. "There are two other things about you that make you a threat to us." Akujin continued, "First of all, none of you are by any means average Shinigami. Both you and Raian possess Hollow reiatsu. Raian himself is a Jinki Fragment. Hikaru is from the original Kurosaki line, known for their unusual talent to bend the rules of reality. And Echo has demon power in him. That means all of you, as you've just seen, can resist the Bankai Ensnaring Device. The other thing is that each of your Bankai have abilities that can rival or match my own." Seireitou let out a weak laugh, "Funny, you don't seem too worried." he stated. "Of course I'm not." Akujin spat, "My abilities far transcend the Bankai you Shinigami have come to rely on in situations like this. While each of your Bankai are as strong as mine, that doesn't account for my other... more subtle... powers." As he finished speaking, a large portal opened up behind him. As the dimensional gate opened, it unleashed a large amount of wind, blowing Akujin's long black hair in his face. "I'm done here. The next time we meet, I will be the ruler of the spiritual world." Akujin stated, "Farewell, Kawahiru Seireitou." With that, Akujin turned and entered the dimensional rift. The portal shut behind him, leaving Seirietou alone in the Human World, stunned at what was to come... End...